"I can't believe I'm really here," he whispered to her, his eyes never once leaving her as he gave her another kiss.
A large smile was precisely set on her own, taking the kiss in stride, batting her eyelashes at him in a fond way. She felt silly from doing it, so she made herself stop. Alice spotted her mom over his shoulder and decided to speak as though nothing was truly happening. "Thank you for saving me," Alice said, sending him a wink when her mother couldn't see her and mouthed "again" to him. He straightened his back when he realized where he was and smiled down at her.
"It was my pleasure," he leaned closer to her ear and whispered, "as always."
He moved past her to enter in the kitchen and Alice found herself staring at her mother, whom was gaping at her with wide-eyed confusion. Alice knew why, all because she kissed a person that her mother thought was a stranger, one that saved her from the dark alley, anyhow. Alice touched her mother's arm as she explained everything. "Sorry about the complete surprise that you just witnessed. David and I dated a while ago and when I moved here, I didn't see him after that." Alice knew that her lie sounded awfully strange, but she couldn't do it perfectly. How else was she going to explain this to her mother without telling her that she went to Wonderland?
Her mother's face dissolved a little. "Oh, that's great, honey! What about Jack? Did you ever make up with him?"
Alice stared at her, blankly. "We had a falling out. It's fine. I'm glad that I ran into David though."
Her mother seemed to shrug a bit, and Alice knew that her mother liked Jack, but again, she couldn't explain everything. She could only hide the truth more. "I'm happy for you, honey. I'll leave you two to catch up then." With a hug and quick kiss on the cheek, her mother was out the door in less than two minutes.
As Alice turned around, his head poked around the corner, a wide smile on his face. "Good cover."
Alice shrugged, a little saddened by the thought of lying to her mother, but she exhaled the negativity out. It's all she could do. "It was the best thing that I could come up with."
He strode over to her, his hat mysteriously appearing in his hand, so he could throw it on the couch. Alice raised an eyebrow, eyeing him suspiciously. "I see that you brought magic with you."
He laughed, with a hint of smirking in the process, and placed his hands on her hips as he gazed down into her face, then to her eyes. He nearly melted at the sight of her blue irises returning the stare. "I'm glad you picked me over Jack."
Alice giggled, something she herself found strange, but she ignored it when she gave him another one of her apprehensive looks. "David, is it now?"
"You can call me whatever you like, dear, but I thought that would sound better in your world."
"I prefer Hatter," she said, gazing down at her hands that she began curling around each other.
Hatter took her chin and lifted her head back slightly, and kissed her forehead. "I'm happy that we are on the same page."
Alice burst into sporadic laughter and stood on her tippy toes to give him a long lasting kiss, giving him access to wrap his arms all around her.
"So! Tell me all the details! How did he ask you?" Alice's oldest friend, Sarah, asked, as she squirmed in her chair in excitement.
Alice gazed at all three of her closest girlfriends, happy to be having some real time with them since the incident that took her Wonderland. She didn't spend much time with them when she was with Jack. Now, Hatter would wander off and do things she never knew about. Her three friends, eyes large with wonder, gaped at her, waiting for every detail. Alice remembered that she was on Earth, not in Wonderland. "It felt pretty magical to me, though it wasn't any magic carpet ride," she laughed at her own joke. Though she didn't understand why she said it to her friends. They only continued to stare. "I was cooking breakfast, he asked me to turn around, and I found him on his knee, popping the question." They all screamed in their unison of excitement and Alice couldn't contain her small giggles either. It was extraordinary how others could make you feel.
"The ring is gorgeous," one of them oozed in delight at looking over her single diamond ring that he gave to her as her engagement ring. The one thing these girls didn't know was what was engraved on the inside: Wonderland's Hatter and Alice. She rarely took it off, and when she did, no one was ever really around. "When's the date?"
Alice shrugged, but still beamed. "We have no idea. Maybe on a sunny day in May."
Alice threw open the door, shaking, as her mother looked anxiously over her daughter's wild looks. Alice's hair was untamed and her face was pale.
"What is it, honey? I came over as soon as you called. You gave me such a fright on the phone!" When Alice paced across the living room floor, her mother touched her arm in a caring way and made Alice face her. "Honey, what is it?"
Alice closed her eyes, breathed, and eyed her mother, straightforward. "Mother, I'm pregnant."
Somewhere, in the deep hideout filled with guards and even a man with a rabbit-like head, a misty pool of fog hung over the ground, clinging to the image of Alice telling her mother that she was pregnant. Alice's frightened look stilled on the pool before her mother hugged her and patted her back, whispering encouragements in her ear. Even then, Alice had an expression that was only feared with dread.
A cackle erupted from the group that was watching the pool. A woman, dressed in red and white, came up to the pool and grinned like a mad woman. She turned to one of her guards, bearing a heart printed on his shoulder. "Guards, under my control, I wish for you to do something dangerous." A young blonde man appeared at her side, grinning as crazily as she was. "Son, I want you to team up with March Hare here and go find the young child of Hatter and Alice. They will pay. They should learn to never mess with the Queen of Hearts."
